9:50pm: Talks were ongoing as of Friday evening, according to Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and do not include Garrett Jones. Brink adds that Bucs are more receptive to taking on salary than moving a player or prospect.
4:14pm: The Yankees are telling the Pirates that absorbing $10MM isn't enough, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets.
3:47pm: The Pirates appear to be willing to absorb $10MM in a trade, Heyman tweets. The Yankees have been pushing for an even split and seek an OK prospect in return. Heyman tweets that the chances of a deal remain "decent." The clubs are talking, but aren't close to a deal, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. The Pirates are also looking at other starters.
12:34pm: There seems to be a fair amount of optimism about a deal, Heyman tweets.
10:28am: The Pirates haven't yet offered to pay $10MM of the $33MM remaining on Burnett's contract, Heyman tweets.
7:57am: The Yankees and Pirates continue discussing a possible A.J. Burnett trade, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. The Yankees are willing to pay a substantial portion of the $33MM remaining on the right-hander’s contract through 2013, but the teams are still a few million apart. The Yankees first asked the Pirates to pay well over $11MM, Heyman writes.
The Yankees want to create payroll room for a designated hitter and appear to be leaning toward Raul Ibanez, perhaps because they prefer his ability to play the outfield. Johnny Damon and Eric Chavez also intrigue the Yankees as possible free agent additions, according to Heyman. The Pirates rejected the Yankees’ request for Garrett Jones, Heyman writes.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Burnett’s no-trade list includes all of the teams on the West Coast (Twitter links). Sherman expects the Yankees to trade Burnett before Spring Training and suggests the team is waiting to see if the Pirates or another club offers to absorb more money.
Pirates are downright sad. I don’t mind if AJ stays or goes. But the Pirates doing this thinking they will do anything in 2012 & 2013 is laughable
give the pirates the Yankees revenue for one season and get back to me.
Ahh this argument again. The Yankees, and Brian Cashman have to spend the money correctly to build a winner. If you gave the Pirates front office of the early 00’s (not sure if it’s the same one as today) that money, they would probably put the same team on the field and added that east wing to their houses they’ve always wanted.
Let me stop you before you begin, Cashman doesn’t always spend smartly but he’s human he’s allowed to make mistakes.
you may be right, but the McLatchey era is over. and yes, cashman has to spend wisely. but the Yankees have such an advantage. FACTS: Pirates are the least valuable team in MLB. Pirates do not own their stadium. Pirates dont even make money from parking. Pirates are not a world wide iconic brand that generates money just from name recognition alone.
The yankees can afford a mistake or three, just like Burnett for example. The pirates cant afford a $16MM a year mistake ONCE.
You forgot to throw in severely economically depressed area in general to draw from. That never helps.
The Pirates were never world winners at drawing back when they had Stargell, Parker,Moreno, Candy Man, Stennett.. Can go back further even and the Clemente, Veale era.. the team never did light up the turn styles.
Not hammering them here, just only in short spurts did they draw good and always did like the old Buc teams, just never were consistently good at drawing.
Economically depressed area? You must not know anything about Pittsburgh anymore because it is not economically depressed. Not by any stretch.
Long time since been to the area, granted.. Am from WV originally and many of the steel mills were in trouble when was there last is what based that on.
No worries. The problem is that tv sells Pittsburgh as a steel town still. It’s on all Monday Night Football games when the Steelers play and they show steel mills. Not like that at all. Pittsburgh came through that and is now a leading area in education, technology and the medical fields. cost of living is low and the real estate market was never really hurt.
Still a small market though and until the economics of baseball change to be fair to all teams, they will struggle. Or until someone like Mark Cuban can buy the team.
99% correct except the Cuban part.
thanks for clearing this up, the media potrays pittsburgh like its a total dump and struggling to just exist. I was clueless on the matter, so glad to know things arent as bad as we are lead to believe
Until the late 2000s, the Yankees didn’t own their stadium either. They still don’t make money from parking (the city and state have that money). It really does come down to putting together a good on-field product.
I was referring to just the pirates and how little revenue they get, not necessarily about comparing stadiums and parking. but how about this: next time you go to Singapore and see a kid wearing a Pirates cap, then we’ll argue about money, because the “NY” logo is everywhere.
the Pirates could win just like the Rays and also still draw fans just like the Rays. Dont forget that.
The Pirates needed a better front office. As proven by the Rays
success the past 4 years, who happen to be in the same division as the 2
highest paid teams in the AL, money doesn’t always guarantee success
and you can win with little money. Don’t blame the Pirates failures
solely on lack of money. You can complain about the money issue all you want but if your front office is terrible (and the Pirates was for the past 15 years or so), then you should fault your own team more so than hating on another team’s success.
As far as fan base goes, ummm, well, something I can’t really argue for either side.
There was a Sports Illustrated article in 2010 on the Pirates and there is a quote which surprised me.
“For perspective, the Pirates reportedly will earn $24 million in gate receipts for this entire season. For further perspective, the Yankees can earn that much in ticket sales for a seven-game homestand.”
Yeah…you don’t really need parking revenue when you have a cable deal paying you 300 million a year, or whatever obscene number it is.
You must remember that for all their brand that sells, it goes to a pool under MLB marketing and each team gets an equal share. plus the money they get form the yanks in revenue sharing is a joke that the pirates don’t spend more. and Tampa has a much better team, and about the same payroll.
It’s not an equal share. Teams only share 34% of their gate revenue. So the Yankees only share 34% of the revenue from the 45,000+ fans it gets each home game and keep 66%. Meanwhile the Pirates only draw less than 20,000 fans per home game.
Baseball is unlike football, which splits pretty much 50% of each team’s gate revenue among its league. That’s why the degree of competitive balance in the NFL is so much higher than that of the MLB.
i said the marketing pool, shirts, hats etc. if you think that the pirates sell more named stuff than the yankees, or even more that the 1/30 that they get, you need to think it out better.
That and the fact that there is a hard salary cap in football.
Ahhh THIS argument again. Yes, a team with money still needs to make good choices. They can also just shrug off the bad ones without ruining the franchise for years. Unless, that is, you’re honestly saying that a team with a billion dollar TV contract is on equal footing with one that gets like 10-15M a year.
Was the money Cashman spent on AJ Burnett spent correctly? If so, why is he trying to dump him off? If not, it must be true that Cashman doesn’t need to spend money correctly to build a winner. Yeah, nobody always makes the right choice, as you said. The difference is that in this case he can just shrug it off and go get someone else. It’s a totally different animal.
Yes, the money on Burnett was spent correctly. He was an instrumental piece on a championship the following year. The Yankees had to overpay to lure him in, but still, those are risks teams in “win now” mode take on a regular basis (look at the Angels’ offseason or at the Phillies’ roster). And it payed. He regressed far worse than anyone had expected, but it was not universally criticized. Some times regressions happen that you can’t anticipate (I.E. John Lackey).
Jim Hendry had it and look where it got the Cubs.
Omar minaya and the Mets come to mind as well….
Yes, the Yankees have to spend wisely….Hideki Irabu, Jose Contreras, Kevin Brown, Javier Vazquez, Aaron Boone, Carl Pavano….those huge financial errors have crippled their spending!!! Are you serious? Their huge revenue and market allow them to cover for HUGE errors time and time again. Comparing the Pirates to the Yanks is apples to Oranges…if anything given the advantages the Yankees are afforded their performance over the last 10 years is laughable….
None of those contracts were bad going in, except for Kevin Brown, probably, and he was ace material acquired for essentially nothing (there’s only one good Weaver). Pavano’s injury was not predictable and he has shown that he is a competent starter. Vazquez’s failures with the Yankees are a complete anomaly according to his career line. Contreras and Irabu (R.I.P.) were a failure, but were highly pursued pitchers and Contreras showed for a time that he was championship material (with the White Sox). There’s a difference between a failure and bad spending.
You want contracts that are failures? Look for Darren Dreifort, Carlos Lee, Jason Bay, Alfonso Soriano, Ryan Howard, Andruw Jones (with the Dodgers), Oliver Perez and (yes, I admit it) even A-Rod’s current one as examples. A bad contract is one in which the team largelly outbids himself and overpays going in, no matter how good or bad the results end up being and without the need of using the contract as a statement of market competitiveness (like Jayson Werth’s contract with the Nationals, Magglio Ordonez’s first contract with the Tigers or even Jose Reyes’s current deal).
Kevin Brown and Vazquez were traded for. So was Aaron Boone if I believe.
yes, Brown was signed to the first $100MM dollar deal by the Dodgers.
I know he was traded, I made reference to that. Still, the point was made about how the Yankees spend their money and ability to accomodate contracts into their payroll.
“if anything given the advantages the Yankees are afforded their performance over the last 10 years is laughable…. ”
You’re from VA it appears by you’re profile, I’ll lean towards an Orioles fan. What’s more laughable is an Orioles fan laughing at the Yankees. Your team has one of if not the worst owners in all of sports.
“Your team has one of if not the worst owners in all of sports”
Hey now.. I like the Fish, but please don’t forget who there owner is when ranking the worst owners…
Id still say Angelos is worse
Nope, actually I’m a Bucco fan which certainly does not preclude them from the worst ownership in sports argument!! No argument, my Bucco’s are a laughing stock…have been for nearly 20 years. As a baseball fan though I feel given the Yanks huge payroll advantage(for example nearly 2-1 over last years World Series teams) they have greatly underachieved over the last 10 years. Whether they sign or trade for large contracts, their ability to absorb “busts” gives them a distinct competitive advantage. The fact that the Yanks are willing to “eat” the equivalent of 25 percent of the Pirates payroll over the next 2 years to make Burnett disappear says as much. The current system is slanted greatly in their favor(as also with Boston, Philly, NYM, and several others to a lesser degree) which is the way MLB wants it…Give Cashman a 45 million dollar payroll and I would suspect his performance would be comparable to Huntington. 1 WS ring in 10 years given their huge advantages is to me “laughable”… especially considering the current MLB financial structure makes rooting for the Yanks kind of like rooting for Walmart!
Still not as laughable as 18 consecutive losing seasons. Laugh all you want but with all due respect, the pirates are one of the worst teams in sports. A pirates fan laughing at the Yankees is like a bills fan laughing at the steelers, or an islanders fan laughing at the penguins. And ill even diss one of ny other favorite teams, a knicks fan laughing at the Lakers
To edit this at 12:30 AM EST – Maybe the Knicks at least for 1 night can laugh at the Lakers
actually, to cross sports in your post, the Islanders are the Pirates! once the home of teams dominant in their eras that homes of horrendous/clown show management/front offices/ownerships
Very true. Although back in the mid 00’s the Isles were a pretty solid team, but now they are a wrecking crew.
Cashman would have to run an organization completely different if he had $45 million. As I said in the past, comparing big market GMs and small market GMs is apples to oranges
That’s all garbage, in the past 10 years the Giants, Marlins, Diamondbacks, and Cards have won the series. With the addition of another wild card the champion will become random. The team that gets hot at the end of the season will win, like the Giants and Cards. The best teams no longer win.
What does that have to do with what I said though?
You’d expect them to be a 95 win team then?
96
more money couldnt hurt. the team will still have the young talented players to build around.
I agree it wouldn’t hurt, but we would have no idea how they would use it.
I’d be more inclined to care if the last great prospect they developed and then lost wasn’t aramis ramierez.
The Pirates didn’t lose Ramirez, MLB *forced* the Pirates to trade Ramirez as a salary dump, because they didn’t meet MLB’s debt-to-equity ratio. Look it up… google the phrase ‘Pirates prez says debt is manageable’.
In contrast, when the Mets had debt problems recently, did MLB make them trade David Wright?
Whats so laughable? Burnett and Bedard stay healthy they could easily be in the race in a weaker NL Central
agreed
Bedard staying healthy is certainly laughable though
not necessarily. his arm, in fact, was fine last year. his injury wasnt arm related which is why this is a good signing. and he still tossed 130 innings. Add 5 more starts to that number and hes up there around Morton and McDonald already.
The Pirates have a very good young core that is still 1-2 years away from prime. Plus they have VERY good pitching that should be MLB ready at some point in 2013.
Tabata, McCutchen, and….who else? I agree they have some nice prospects, especially pitching prospects, but they just do not have a young core nearing their prime.
seriously? Im sure Ron wasnt trying to imply that the lineup was full of allstars, but cmon man, the young guys do have a chance of being very good.
Go on “take the money and run”…
This just magnifies a glaring problem with baseball that the powers that be refuse to acknowledge! Teams like the Yankees can pay a guy like Burnett, 25 million to go away, while a small market team like the Pirates, needs that much money of his salary paid in order to make the deal worth it. It’s really sad from both sides. I long for the day when baseball will wise up and get a salary cap with both a ceiling and a floor.
Yeah but they were going to give him the money anyway. It’s perfectly fair and logical that teams can pay part of the salaries of players they wish to trade. If anything, it helps the smaller teams, because they get higher market talent, for the most part, for less than market value.
If you had a less wealthy franchise, would you rather spend a few million on a Doug Davis/Sergio Mitre or take a >small< risk on AJ Burnett who has the potential to be really good?
Also, I don't see how people can blame teams for having more money. It just sounds like "No fair, they're better at running a business than we are."
the reason for more financial parity is because the rich teams play poor teams to earn all that money. if the poor teams close doors and the yankees have to play the sox all season long what fun is there?
The only way the poor teams would have to shutter their doors realistically was if they DID put in a salary cap because it would include a salary floor, and most likely one that was around $100 million which is what it is in the NFL where revenues for the league are not all that different.
Why would a Salary Floor be at $100 million? That’s ridiculous.
I’m not sure if the floor would be 100 million – but it would certainly be a lot higher than many teams are currently at or want to be at.
Why does baseball need a salary cap? What will it fix? I’ve been dying to hear someone with a good argument!
Ever heard of the NFL?
Yes but a salary cap is not solely why the NFL is more competitive. A short schedule surely does help too.
There’s a salary cap in the NBA too. And that’s maybe an 8 team league.
Ever heard that they have more teams in the playoffs every year and only about have of the teams in the league have won a Superbowl?
notice how it’s usually the same teams making the super bowl? you hardly ever teams like the equivilant of the rays or rockies making the world series
For starters, it prevents high market teams from spending overboard on all star free agents.
However, just because you have so many stars does not guarantee that you will even make the playoffs. It often is about growing talent…and those teams that have been bad for so long have simply done horribly in that regard—i.e., the Pirates.
Yes the Pirates and Orioles. 2 franchises that have played poorly for quite some time and for quite some time still had below average farm systems. Thankfully the Pirates have move in the top 10 but the Orioles are still the 2nd worst in the AL East.
Those two teams have not evaluated talent properly and have had poor drafts for years that is their down fall. Also don’t these teams get revenue shares?? If there is a salary cap they will be losing that extra money.
revenue shares are peanuts from the giving teams’ point and walnuts for the receiving team. it definitely needs to change. don’t get me wrong. my team turned into a giving team around ten years ago but the game of baseball needs to achieve somewhat of a payroll parity.
Luckily they are changing Revenue sharing so that the teams in the 15 largest markets are disqualified from receiving revenue sharing proceeds. A good change in my book. If you are in a big market and still can’t bring in revenue than it’s on the owners.
i agree with you except one thing; it is not enough.
if there was a salary cap, does that mean we can get rid of the scam nown as premium team pricing? every team would be the same then. of course the smaller markets complain about the rich teams getting richer, but when the schedule comes out, they all want and promote the richer teams, especially the interleague games.
and cue braves fans’ entrance music…
you are speaking of a payroll cap, not a salary cap which would limit how much a player makes.
and a payroll cap would do absolutely nothing in terms of making teams more or less competitive. teams would still rebuild; the “floor” would have teams like the pirates just over it. And the pirates get plenty of money from the yankees through revenue sharing, so no complaints to begin with.
just look at the competitiveness of the baseball pre-bud and post-bud. even a yankee fan would be a little smarter.
FACT: Baseball has the most championship parity in any US Sport since 2000.
Thanks for sharing that meaningless tidbit Mr Selig!
The cancer that is AJ Burnett will not be on the Yankees this year. If they’re willing to absorb that much money then they are highly motivated to get rid of him. He can only improve being in the NL and out of the AL East. He’s an innings eater, and clearly no legitimate starting pitcher is willing to sign-up with the Pirates, so why not.
why is your team trying to throw a cancer to someone else’s lap?
Ill Go Tim Alderson for AJ Burnett thats about it, While the Yankees pick up the whole contract
My friend I can tell by your moniker you’re a dreamer and eternal optimist.
Nah I’m a realist, with a sarcastic twist… What do you really think your boy Burnett is worth with a 5 + era the last two seasons n owed over 30 million?? You sir overvalue your beloved Yankees.
…and talks between the 2 teams continue. Regardless of what ultimately happens at this point that’s a good sign for the Yankees and Yankees fans.
BTW, the Yankees will probably wind up eating $24 or $25MM of the $33MM and they will be better off for it. At least that’s my opinion.
I think the Yankees learned their lesson about signing non-elite pitchers to huge contracts. This was a major driving force behind the Pineda/Montero deal. It’s one thing if a pitcher with a high ceiling/dominant stuff is cheap, if he fails there will always be another team to take a chance on him – but if he is expensive (e.g. Burnett), you’re screwed.
I so wish the red sox would learn that lesson
I wonder if Raul was ever signed because of his defense before…
Isn’t the entire reason for trading Burnett is the money he is owed? How can you expect anything of value in return unless you eat the majority of the contract?
Please let this go through…Burnett is way too inconsistent to fit in the Yankees’ plans. Presuming that Michael Pineda continues to progress, this would be great news for the Yanks…and Burnett could do better outside the AL East.
A.J. needs a fresh start. New York stage is too much for him. Under all that scrutiny and rightfully so considering the huge contract. He would become super relaxed playing in Pittsburgh and should excel there.
No idea what the actual WAR or any other relevant stats say but getting rid of AJ has to guarantee the Yanks oneor two extra wins this year v. the Sox and Toronto.
his war in 2010 was -.5 and ’11, 1.1. is this pitcher worth $4 million per year?
Burnett is a #1 starter on almost any team, why should the Yanks pay so much of his contract.
I think his 5.15 era might have something to do with it.
yankees need to pay at least $18 million for the trade to be worth for the bucs.
Yeah and Jeff Mathis is one of the best hitters in the game.
I defy you to name me ONE team that AJ Burnett is the undisputed #1 starter on.
Orioles
Long Island Ducks
Alright, you got me on that one. I really should have specified “Major League Baseball” so as to fully eliminate any possible options.
He’s got #1 potential but #4/5 execution.
Lol and Lackey is a number 2… C’mon pal have some objectivity.
a.j. burnett
john lackey
barry zito
carlos zambrano
derek lowe
the contract aces
don’t forget the mike hampton contract, that was a true showing that he was such an ace
he’s in the bullpen with gil meche
Kevin Brown the closer?
Come on now. That just isn’t true. You can most likely count the teams that would put him in the top 2-3 on one hand.
im gonna miss the crazy SOB. He pitched better than most people give him credit for. He had one atrocious month, which ballooned his ERA. He was consitently around a low 4.00 ERA the whole year. He helped win us a WS, and I’ll never forget about that. hope he succeeds anywhere he goes
2.8, -0.5 and 1.1 are his war last three years. he has been bad!
idc what WAR says, i saw every game he pitched last year, he wasnt as bad as people think
some random fan’s internet testimony > objective data
he was giving the Yankees 6-7 innings of 2-4 run ball almost every night. his ERA was low 4.00 throughout the year until that atrocious month of august. Yeah hes no all star, but he was solid, hes not abysmal like most people think.
your eyes can be very deceiving.
Outside NY, he will.
Burnett would also benefit from not being in the NYY fishbowl (and the expectations that come with it). If he pitched near 165 innings for the Pirates (possible in the NL), over 27 or 28 starts, with an ERA of 4.2 or so (seems possible, given the league difference), he’d be a valuable addition to the Pirates rotation. But on the NYY, that same pitching effort would likely result in 154 innings and a 5+ ERA (which would make it hard for Girardi to keep him in the NYY rotation).
It would be worth it to the Yanks for the roster and financial flexibility. It would definitely be worth it to the Bucs, who need a veteran fairly reliable starter. And most of all it would be worth it to Burnett, who just needs to get out of NY: it doesn’t say anything bad about him that he hasn’t pitched well there, dealing with the NY media is not for everyone. It would not be worth it to give up a Garrett Jones, but in the end I think, and I hope, that this gets done.
I agree – people seem to look at the CURRENT contract the Yankees have with this deal and not the amount of money the Yankees would be covering (instead of the amount the pirates would be paying).
Pirates would be better off saving that 10 mill
According to Fangraphs WAR, AJ has been worth $5.6 and 6.7 mil the past two years, so he’s probably worth at least paying $10 mil of his remaining contract. Less than that I think the Yanks just keep him.
Lets get this trade done. Yankees need to get rid of all the pollution.
Really an update to tell us what the Pirates didnt offer. Come on. Next update will say “The Pirates didn’t offer to take 9million.” and then 3 hours later “The Pirates didn’t offer to take AJ without any cash”
I think you have that in reverse. And it at least helps us narrow down what the Pirates are looking for. Doesn’t mean they won’t eventually accept Burnett at $10 million, but it gives you an idea of where they’re currently sitting and how potentially far/close the two teams are to negotiating a deal. Would you rather just hear nothing? I’d like to believe not.
Edwin Jackson: 199.2 IP, 3.73 xFIP, 1.437 WHIP, 2.8 BB/9, 6.7 SO/9, $11MM/year
AJ Burnett: 190.1 IP, 3.86 xFIP, 1.434 WHIP, 3.9 BB/9, 8.2 SO/9, $4MM/year
Seems like a good gamble for the Pirates to take. If they were willing to give Edwin Jackson $30MM, this looks like a steal.
Yankees want them to pay 5 million per year. So……off a million on your salaries, but definitely a worthwhile post 🙂
and yet the yankees are trying to get rid of him. AJ is a Yankee mistake and soon to be Pittsburgh mistake
Certainly would be a mistake to pay him $16MM a year. That won’t be an issue for the Pirates.
oh snap!!!
i bet you that the redsox make more profit from their tv deal alone than the pirates make in a 3 year period on EVERYTHING.
trade burnett to cubs for soriano and the cub pitch in 20 million
burnett to cubs for soriano and 20 million dollars
Makes no sense. Soriano is in steep decline and signed for 3 more years. No use for him from a production standpoint and why pay more for him to clog up a roster spot.
In 2001 Ichiro won the ROY and MVP. Has anyone else ever done that?
I’m not sure why Pit would want AJ. As a Yankee fan, I think would be great for the 25 man roster to move him. That being said, what about trading a bad contract for a bad contract? Instead of paying him to play on another team, trade him even up for a guy like Alfonso Soriano or Carlos Lee? I feel that trading him to the cubs might actually work well for both teams. Yes both teams would have a bloated salary for the player but the Yanks could use the bat for the DH/OF and the Cubs or Huston could use an experience starter
please realize that 1. the pirates do own there stadium as stated by the city of Pittsburgh 2. the pirates need another pitcher and burnett is an excellent person to do that with. there starters will consist of: Erik Bedard, AJ Burnett, Kevin Correia, Jeff Karstens, and Charlie Morton. That sets for a pretty good pitching core and puts the pirates in better position to win.
Don’t forget McDonald.
What I find interesting is that some folks seem to think the Pirates won’t be really competitive this year or next. Same has been said about the Astros, Orioles, Royals, etc. Probably true. However, the great thing about baseball is that you never know. You never know what team will surprise one year. It happens. That is one of my favorite aspects of the game…there is that unknown beauty that comes along every year, and it is intriguing, fascinating and marvelous.
Wait a minute. The YANKEE$ have payroll concerns?? And they’re looking to the PIRATES for help?? My eyes must be going bad.
I just CANNOT picture AJ in a Pirates uniform. lol
NYY would be wise to do this deal if PIT is willing to eat $10 MM………………….
yeah i just saw this and i dont understand why the Yankees think they can get more than 10 mill in his deal. Theyre not going to get 1/2 of it taken. They should just accept it now
Seems to me that we have a buyers market. Pittsburgh is better with Burnett than without, but not likely to make a playoff run either way. They really don’t need to eat too much in the way of salary or give up too much in the way of a prospect.
Yankees want a DH, but have to clear salary to get one. $5 million salary room would be enough to get Ibanez. Pirates know this. Why should they substantially increase the amount they are willing to pay? If they do increase, why would they be willing to give up any real prospect?
Sure, Yankees could start the season with Burnett in the rotation, and a lesser DH in the lineup. The Pirates could go with their current starting five. The Yankees are favored to win the AL East either way, and it would take alot more than Burnett to move Pittsburgh from the 4 spot in the NL Central.
Yankees aren’t looking to just win the AL East, though. They need the Pirates far more than Pittsburgh needs Burnett. Unless another team can be duped into taking his salary, Pittsburgh should hold firm. For that matter, if you’re Pittsburgh – offer Ibanez the $5 million the Yankees won’t accept for Burnett. That should speed up the trade negotiations and reduce the Yankees’ demands.
And then Ibanez accepts the Pirates’ offer and they are screwed out of $5M.
Cashman save your 10mil don’t be dumb!
“4:14pm: The Yankees are telling the Pirates that absorbing $10MM isn’t enough, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets.” “4:15pm Yankee Fans tweet Yankees and tell them, it’s enough, take the money and run.”
That’s worth like 50 trillion dollars in team moral currency. Take it and run.
the yankees are getting greedy
Just give them the 10. If I were the Pirates, I would even have 2nd thoughts of eating 5 million…
JUST DO IT!
He wants the Pirates to take on 1/2 the salary AND give something good back?? If you don’t want to trade him, just say so.
If I’m the Pirates I’d eat 4 mil a year. If Cash wants them to eat more, start adding prospects. AJ at $8 mil a year and Banuelos?? Sold…
Banuelos? Very funny…
As a die hard Red Sox fan it’s funny to see when the Yankees fail. As I wrote earlier, the Yankees have (capital H) to do this deal is Pittsburgh is willing to absorb 10MM. What are they holding out for? 15? Because I think Pitt is pulling $$ out of areas they didn’t know they didn’t have it in (not to take anything away fom the Pirates) to do 10MM! I’m going to laugh when the Pirates back off this deal, thus realizing they almost made a horrible horrible mistake.
As a Yankee fan I loved it when the Sox failed last fall & continued to fail this winter…its a beautiful thing.
At least the Yankees have a reasonable rotation.
Fail? The Yankees, on paper, have a great rotation with a surplus of arms. They’re looking to remove a bad contract and free up some space for a dh on the payroll. The Yankees don’t have to do anything. They could just as easily slot Burnett into the 5th starter roll if they so felt it. It’s not like they’re trying to deal 6 years and 120 million that’s committed to a rapidly declining injured left fielder…
Even though Burnett has struggled big time in NY the last couple seasons the guy still has above average stuff. Its not like he is helpless like barry zito and throws a high school fastball like zito does, he can still throw heat and has a nice breaking ball. I think a change of scenary and a league change will do wonders for him.
Burnett still has good stuff, and won a playoff game last year. He acually pitched better than CC in the playoffs. This is a good trade for both teams, AJ will give the Bucs innings and will pitch better in the NL.
even though im glad the tigers beat the yankees in the playoffs. That series was a huge joke. Rain every single game, our aces out, huge rain delays, canceled games. I would have loved to see that series playout without the rain.
True but hey at least it came down to the end and the decisive game was only a 1 run game. Real baseball fans would take that all the time.
oh yeah, dont get me wrong, it was amazing. but the rain really ruined things. Game 5 put me through heart attacks, strokes, shock, everything.
wow and you survived?! What’s your secret? but in all seriousness that rain just reminded me of every rainout last year, I felt like it rained every time the Yankees had a home game or at least threatened to. I don’t know if that happened to your Tigers throughout the season, but it gets frustrating.
Well everyone thought april was going to be pretty bad. If I remember right we had a ton of april home games, and not one rain out or delay. Then may hits and the clouds opened up and the gods poured upon us. I think we have a stretch of 20 games in a row without a break or something like that. Im hoping this year will be better, this very mild winter has me scared of whats in store for us.
Burnett has shown himself to be an under-performing, overpaid, clubhouse headache in his time with the Yanks. There is little doubt that Burnett will not pitch another inning for this team. Why would any rational general manager want to pay more than $5 million annually for New York’s biggest nightmare?
First of all, most free agents are overpaid. AJ has pitched in the AL East which is much tougher than the NL Central, and he has pitched 12 years in the majors with a lifetime record 121-111 record with a 4.10 ERA. AJ still has good stuff, the problem is he has dropped off the last 2 years. There have been many good pitchers that haven’t been able to pitch in NY. I would take a chance on him if I’m the Bucs, you have nothing to lose.
For a team payroll like the Pirates, the asking price of over 5 million annually is unlike “nothing to lose”. If Burnett cannot pitch for a team with a formidable line-up in New York, how can you expect him to win in Pittsburgh? As for the NL central, didn’t the NL Central’s second place team win the World Series? I seem to remember reading that in one game last year, Burnett nearly blew a 17 run lead and was a clubhouse cancer/managerial nightmare for most of the season. It sounds like another Matt Morris deal for Pittsburgh…. too much salary for a pitcher who last pitched well five years ago.
By the way AJ also one a playoff game last year, and out pitched CC in the playoffs. His overall track record is acually better than Don Larsen, plus AJ will give you 190-200 innings. The Bucs need another starter and no one seems to want to go their.
If the Yankees expect Pittsburgh to take on more salary, they better throw in a prospect. Burnett’s not that great, so for the Pirates, giving up a decent player and paying Burnett over about 5 mill a year isn’t really worth it.
It would be smart for the pirates to trade Jones to the Yankees for Burnett. Burnett’s numbers will improve in the NL and if the Yankees eat most of his salary it would be a great move for the Pirates.